Purple People Bridge

Newport Southbank Bridge
The bridge viewed from the river in 2022
Coordinates	39°05′53″N 84°29′52″W
Carries	pedestrians
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Newport, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio
Other name(s)	Purple People Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	2,670 feet (810 m)
Newport and Cincinnati Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Spans Ohio River, Cincinnati, Ohio
Built	1868–1872
Architect	Becker, M.J.; et al.
Architectural style	Subdivided Pratt truss
NRHP reference No.	01000364
Added to NRHP	April 17, 2001
History
Opened	April 1, 1872 (extensively rebuilt from 1896-1897)
Location

Purple-clad people crossing the Newport Southbank Bridge

Stereoscopic image of the bridge before its 1897 reconstruction.

The Purple People Bridge is a pedestrian-only bridge that stretches 2,670 feet over the Ohio River, connecting Newport, Kentucky to downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

History

The original bridge first opened on April 1, 1872, under the name Newport and Cincinnati Bridge, and was Cincinnati's first railroad bridge spanning the Ohio River. The bridge piers were built with stone from Adams County, Ohio.

In 1896, a major reconstruction for the bridge was started. It involved constructing two new streetcar and a carriage deck, with the latter being partially cantilevered. This work also rebuilt the existing railroad deck into a Pennsylvania prat truss. This was completed in 1897, and done to modernize the bridge, despite only being 25 years old, it had already been rendered obsolete with the increased weight of trains.

In 1904, the bridge was renamed the L&N (Louisville and Nashville) Railroad Bridge. Following this, the road deck was paved with asphalt to allow for improved usage.

After the opening of the Dixie Terminal's lower level on November 27, 1921, the CN&C's streetcar tracks were reconfigured to cross the Central bridge, and the L&N Railroad Bridge was restricted to emergency use only.

In 1928, the Kentucky Highway Department made plans to purchase the vehicular and streetcar sections of the Bridge. This transaction was met with resistance from the L&N Railroad since the tolls started to become profitable with an increase in automobile traffic, however, when the city threatened to build a competing bridge nearby, a deal was reluctantly struck, and on November 15, 1935, these parts of the bridge were sold. On November 11, 1941, at 2 p.m, tolls were abolished from the crossing after the bonds for the purchase had been paid off. An hour later, a dedication of the now free bridge was held.

On July 3, 1950, the bridges streetcar tracks was closed. The west track was dismantled, and the east track was replaced by a pedestrian walkway.

In 1956, a loop ramp from 2nd Street was opened to traffic. Also around this time, the railroad tracks were converted to go in one direction at peak travel times in the mornings and evenings.

In the 1960s, there were proposals to replace the bridge as part of construction of Interstate 471. This never occurred.

In 1971, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) purchased the remainder of the L&N shares it did not already own, and the L&N became a subsidiary.

In 1980, the road and pedestrian trusses were repainted, while road deck was replaced.

SCL absorbed the L&N entirely in 1982 with the newly merged company known as Family Lines. At the end of June 1984, the bridge's tracks were abandoned. In 1986, the SCL formally merged with the Chessie System, which became CSX Transportation (CSX). At this point, work began on demolishing the rail approaches and removing the train deck, whitch was competed in 1987.

By the 1990s, the bridge had become a lightly use automobile bridge. In addition, after the bridges rail tracks were removed, the CSX ceased maintenance of them resulting in a notable rust, this was well the feast of the crossing was still maintained. In 2000, the Newport approach was partially demolished with the opening of a new parking garage next to it. In October 2001, after years of neglect, the vehicular deck was closed. At this point, the city of Newport, Kentucky, and Southbank Partners, a regional economic development organization, used $4 million in state funds to restore the bridge and convert the deck into a pedestrian one. When it was time to decide on what color to paint it, a variety of options were explored. Computer-generated images of the bridge were shown to participants in more than a dozen focus groups, all of whom picked the color purple as a top choice. It was soon nicknamed the "Purple People Bridge" by area residents. This project was completed in May 2003. Since this rehab the bridge has been maintained by The Purple People Bridge Company, which maintains public access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

In 2006, it became possible for the public to cross the bridge via its superstructure, though only while wearing appropriate safety gear. There are similar bridge climb experiences in Australia and New Zealand. Citing lack of funds and low attendance, the Purple People Bridge Climb was discontinued on May 23, 2007.

In 2012, the purple people bridge company announced they were considering building retail space on the bridge in order to fund work on it. However, they acknowledged that it might not be possible, as such, an engineer would have to see if it was or would need a retrofit to do such.

The bridge was repainted in 2017.

In 2022, as part of the bridges 150th anniversary, various events were held. One of these was renaming the Newport Southbank Bridge as the Purple People Bridge, its popular nickname.

In 2024, the bridge was closed after parts of its pier fell off. Nobody was killed or injured in the accident.

Gallery

• 
  Deck of the bridge
• 
  Underside viewed from the river
• 
  The bridge as viewed from the Carew Tower observation deck
• 
• 

See also

• List of crossings of the Ohio River

External links

• Official website
• Early bridge photograph circa 1910 from the Cincinnati Memory project
• L&N Cincinnati-Newport Railroad Bridge Archived March 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at BridgeHunter